CZECH REPUBLIC: Profitable Evona Out Of Tight Situation

Leading Czech tights producer Evona has posted record profits for the first half of the year. And it is looking at setting up a one-year training programme to fill a skill shortage in the industry.

The company, which has struggled for nine years to pay back a bank loan worth CZK180m, showed a profit of CZK9.19m on sales of CZK157m.

Improved results at Evona, which turns out 130,000 pairs of tights a day, are partly due to an export drive and supplying big retail chains. It exports nearly 65 per cent of what it produces and has a 50 per cent share of the domestic market.

Evona employs 400 people, but a shortage of qualified workers would hold back any expansion plans. So now the company is looking at a training programme to recruit more staff.